Bracket for grand-piano actions



c. w. HALL AND F. E. WHEELER.

BRACKET FOR GRAND PIANO ACTIONS.

. APPLICATION FILED IAN-15,1921.

Patented Sept. 20, 192 1.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C. W. HALL AND F. E. WHEELER.

B RACKET FOR GRAND PIANO ACTIONS.

APPLICATION HLED IAN-15,192!- 1,39 1,054, PatentedSept. 20, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

30 allowed'to expandl freely in one direction,

I To all whom it may concern;

' W TE T T 'FPJ'ATENT "OFFICE.

CHARLES w. Hunger WAKEFIELD. ANDFRANK E. wHEELEaor BELMONT, MASSA- CHUSETTS, ASSIGNCRS To .n-ENRY r. MILLER& SONS PIANO COMPANY, or BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

Be it. known-that'we, CHARLES W. HALL, a'citizen of the United-States, residing .at Vakefield, county ofzMiddleseX, and State of Massachusetts, and FRANK EJVHEELER. a citizen of the United States, residing at'Belmont, inthe county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invefnted new and useful Improvements in Brackets for Grand- Piano Actions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved bracket forgrand piano actions. Grand piano actions-are mechanisms of great delicacy and precision and these actions are supported upon. two. wooden rails,

namely, a hammer supportingrail and a wippen rail,the railsbeing supported. upon a series of brackets,these rails beingsmadev of wood are liable to swell and shrink. thus changing the positionof certain pivots of portions of the action relatively to each other. The slightest change in the relat ve locations of these pivots makes a difference inthe delicacy and perfection ofthefloperation of the grand piano action which is very perceptible to the pianist. It isjvery desirable, therefore, that thehammer supporting railand the wippen. rail should be firmly supported adjacent to their rear .faces'but namelylaway from their rear faces.

To these ends the invention consists in a bracket formed as hereinafterset forth in a manner described in the following specification and particularlypointed out" in the claims. p

Referring to the drawings: 5 1 Figure 1 is a side elevation of agrand piano action with our improvedbracket embodied therein, the key being Shown in raised position and the different parts of the actions beingshown in their relative positions when the key is'so raised.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation Similar-to- Fig. 1 illustrating the key depressed 'and'the different parts ofthe action in .thei-r,relative positions assumed just before the hammer strikes the string.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation viewed from the right of 3 3, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a. detail side elevation of the bracket. Y I

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of a portion of Specification of Letters fatent. PatentedSe'pt, 20, 1921, w Applicationfiled January 15, 1921. Serial No. 437,334.

. the hammer flange rail with a plurality of hammers ha nk flanges thereon.

. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 66, Fig. 5, illustrating a hammer shank flange and stop.

Fig. 7 is a detail rear elevationof a portion of the wippen rail and flange. j, 1 Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views ofthe drawings.

, Inthe drawings, ;10 is a bracket embodvclined forwardly from the rear end ofsaid arm. A hammer flange rail 15 is fastened to the underside of the arm 12 by a screw 16. The rear face of the hammer flange rail15 bears against the inclined front edge 14: of the bracket 10, so that said hammer flange rail isfree to expandorswell forwardly and downwardly but the rear face thereof and the upper face thereof are held rigidly positioned againstthe front edge 14: and the underside of thearm12. A wippen rail 17 is fastened with its rear face against the front face of the vertical arm 13 by a screw 18, so that the wippenrailis free to expand forwardly but its rearface is rigidly positioned against the frontface of the vertical a-rm'13.

It willbe understood that in the action, as aavhole, there are a series of. brackets 10 towhich the hammer flange rail and the wippen rail are fastened in the manner hereinbefore described.

l9 isv a hammer fast in the usual manner to a hammer shank 20 which is pivoted at 21 to a hammer shank flange 22, which. is fastened in the usual manner tothe hammer flange rail 15 by a screw 23. The front I end of the hammer shank rests upon a hamon the support 28at 36. A regulating button 37 is supported upon a regulating rail 38 fast to the bracket 10.

g The operation of the piano action is understood by those skilled in the art. Briefly described this operation is as follows: Then the key 25 is depressed at its forward end,

the capstan 27 moves the support 28 upwardly from the position-illustrated in Fig. l to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, bringing the outer end of the repetition lever 32 against a stop 39 which consists of a screw having screw-threaded engagement with the hammer shank flange 22. When this occurs the hammer 19 has not yet struck the string 40 although very near it and upon a slight movement further of the key downwardly the hammer will be caused to move up into contact with the string by the upper end of the jack 35 which engages a roll 41 on the underside of the shank 18. The outer end of the arm 4L2 on the jack 35 then engages the regulating button 37 which tips the jack 35 upon its pivot 36, thus causing the upper end of the jack to move to the right, Fig. 2, and release the hammer by slipping out from under the roll 41, so that the hammer will fall back and will not stay in engagement with the string 40 even though the key 35 beheld down.

From this description it will be seen that a slight change in position of the hammer shank pivot 21 relatively to the supporting pivot 29 will cause a change in the operation of the action, especially as to the particular time when the hammer will engage the string and be released from contact therewith.

, By supporting the hammer flange rail 15 upon the bracket in the manner hereinbefore described, it will be seen that the rear face and upper face of said hammer flange rail will remain fixed in position even though the rail itself swells or shrinks, said rail being free to swell downwardly or forwardly. The same is true in relation to the wippen rail which is free to swell but which is positioned fixedly against the front face of the vertical arm 13, so that the pivots 21 and 29 and the stop 39 are always positioned accurately with relation to each other, whereby a much more accurate and delicately adjusted and positioned grand piano action is obtained.

We claim:

1. A bracket for a grand piano action embodying a horizontally and forwardly extending arm at the upper end and front thereof and a vertically extending arm adjacent the lower end and rear thereof, a hammer flange rail fast to the underside of said forwardly extending arm and a wippen rail fast to the front edge of said vertically extending arm.

2. A bracket for a grand piano action embodying a horizontally and forwardly extending armat the upper end and front thereof, the front edge of said bracket adjacent to said'arm extending downwardly therefrom and a hammer flange rail fast to the underside of said arm and bearing along its rear face against said front edge.

3. A bracket for a grand piano action embodying a horizontally'and forwardly extending arm at the upper end and front thereof, the front edge of said bracket adjacent to said arm extending downwardly therefrom and being inclined forwardly from the rear end thereof and a hammer flange rail fast to the underside of said arm and bearing along its rear face against said inclined front edge, whereby said flange is allowed to expand forwardly while its rear face is fixedly positioned.

4. A bracket for a grand piano action embodying a vertically extending arm adiacent the lower end and rear thereof, a wippen rail and means to hold the rear face of said wippen rail in fixed position against the front edge of said vertically extending arm while allowing said .wippen rail to expand forwardly.

5. A bracket for a grand piano action embodying a horizontally and forwardly extending arm at the upper end and front thereof and a vertically extending arm adjacent to the lowerend and rear thereof, the front edge of said bracket adjacent to said horizontally extending arm extending downwardly therefrom, a hammer flange rail fast to-the underside of said arm and bearing along its rear face against said front edge and a wippen rail and means to hold said wippen rail in fixed position against the front edge of said vertically extending arm, whereby said rails are allowed to ex pand forwardly while their rear faces are fixedly positioned.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES W. vHALL. FRANK E. WHEELER.

WVitnesses: I

FRANKLIN E. Low, KATHERINE M. JOYCE. 

